he was visiting the facility in benghazi at the time. those reports have not been confirmed by the u.s. state department. they are being reported across the middle east with live images coming out from in front of the u.s. consulate, now, a burned down shell in the city of benghazi. it would be a major escalation. not only did the attackers storm the building in benghazi, they attacked it with rifles, then opened fire on it with machine guns. if the reports are correct, still unconfirmed by the state department, able to kill the ambassador. >> help us understand, as we sit here in the united states, what is driving the attacks. it's a vicious attack if it's true. it escalates the situation. was it based off a completely unknown video posted on youtube with something like 3,000 views before the story came out? >> reporter: that was the provocation. if you remember a few years ago, there was a cartoon that appeared in an obscure report. they are not scouring the internet to look for unwatched videos. this video was deeply offensive. it bec